At least 1,550 people, divided into 53 groups, will traverse Puerto Rico on May 17, 18, and 19 in the second edition of the "Kilometers of Change" movement, whose objective is to raise money for the nine shelters protecting women victims of gender violence on the island.
In its first edition, in 2024, the event managed to raise more than $180,000 for the Shelter Network, and this year they hope to exceed that amount of contributions and also help a home for abused girls, according to organizers at a press conference.
"Kilometers of Change" is the voice of the women who died without being able to ask for help. "Kilometers of Change" is the voice of those who wanted to speak, but fear and violence were faster than their voice," said Deborah Maldonado, president of the organization.
Maldonado also stressed that the race, which will have 53 sections and the same number of women ambassadors or captains, "is the voice of the shelters that save lives, often without resources, with frozen funds, with doors that can be closed at any moment."
According to what was indicated at the press conference, four femicides have been reported in Puerto Rico in 2025, and last year there were 29, according to official data published by the island's Institute of Statistics.
"Gender violence continues to snatch our women, our girls, our mothers, our friends, because silence is the weapon of the aggressor and their indifference makes them an unpunished aggressor," lamented Maldonado, who revealed being a witness of domestic violence from her father against her mother.
Faced with this, the activist argued that the thousands of runners who will participate in the event can "transform our history and the generations that come after us."
"We no longer have to stay locked up, we will no longer pray in silence. Today we change history, because every kilometer adds up, because every voice counts, because every voice contributes. It is time to act," emphasized Maldonado.
The president of "Kilometers of Change" also recognized the directors of the shelters as "brave women who have turned their lives into a human shield to protect those who have nowhere to go," so their work is "of daily heroism."
For her part, Coraly León, president of the Shelter Network, reported that in 2024 these centers protected the lives of 589 survivors of gender violence and dozens of minors, whom they welcomed "in their most vulnerable moment."
León reflected that "the best gift" that "Kilometers of Change" could offer is that women can feel "cared for, accompanied" if at some point they have to resort to a shelter and turn it "into a space that allows them to heal."
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